Moments in Time
by Tripleguess
Summary: Snapshots of the Muntoverse from various points of view.
1. The Wind Moveth

**The Wind Moveth**  
a Munto fanfiction by Tripleguess  
Genre: Drama/Flashfic  
Rated PG  
October 29, 2007  
Summary: They never did find the umbrella.

It was the strangest thing.

They were walking and chatting on their way to school, just as they'd done every day for years -- Suzume dancing through puddles, Yumemi shielding her face beneath a pink umbrella.

Other students thought she carried it to protect her fair skin. Ichiko knew better.

Then Yumemi paused, her face going blank as she looked up and around, as through trying to place an odd sound.

Ichiko cocked her head, too. She heard nothing. "What's wrong, Yumemi? ...Yumemi..."

Yumemi came to, blinking. She smiled. "Oh -- nothing..." she started to say.

But she flinched and cried out in midsentence, throwing her arms up in such alarm that her schoolmates flinched too. The umbrella -- the umbrella disappeared. Ichiko, midflinch, didn't quite see how or where.

Yumemi lifted her head, then stared at an empty patch of asphalt with frightened eyes and clutched her schoolbag as though trying to hide behind it. "Wh-what is this?" she managed, her voice trembling.

Ichiko looked. There was nothing there. "Yumemi!"

Yumemi flinched again, recoiling as though from a gust of hot wind.

"Yumemi!" Suzume chimed in.

"What?" Yumemi quavered again. But she wasn't talking to them.

She couldn't hear them. Call as they might, it wasn't until Ichiko took her by the shoulders and yanked her backwards that she snapped out of her trance.

"Yumemi!"

Yumemi blinked, then focused on them with obvious difficulty. "What was that?"

"'What,' she says," Ichiko snapped worriedly. "What happened to you?"

"Ichiko, you didn't see that?"

"See _what?_" Ichiko retorted. There was nothing there!

But the umbrella was gone. They ran up and down the street looking for it, without success. Suzume thought she had seen it blow away, but Ichiko pointed out that there was no breeze. Eventually they had to give up or be late for class.

They trotted the rest of the way to make up for lost time. Yumemi shaded her eyes with one hand as she told them what she'd seen, but she kept stealing furtive glances at the sky between her fingers, then darting quick looks around as though expecting to be jumped.

And in a lifeless desert not so very far away, a pink umbrella wilted beneath a scorching sun -- and the withering glare of a golden-eyed king.

**The End**

DISCLAIMER: You know what's coming. This story not created, acknowledged or endorsed by Kyoto Animation or Yoshiji Kigami, to whom all relevant characters and trademarks belong. No infringement is intended. _The Wind Moveth_ itself is fan domain and may be freely recopied and archived.


	2. Voice of Reason

**Voice of Reason**  
a Munto fanfiction by Tripleguess  
Genre: Character/Drama  
Rated PG  
January 31, 2008  
Summary: It was the sensible thing to do.

_You must learn, child, that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I. The weight of the world is on our shoulders. We must be freed from all rules. Ours is a high and lonely destiny.  
-Queen Jadis, "The Magician's Nephew" (by C. S. Lewis)_

What a fool.

He stood like a statue, like a sentry on duty, his eyes never leaving the screen. Perhaps she felt his scrutiny, for she often looked troubled these days.

He didn't see that. He didn't see her. He didn't know her name.

The only thing he saw was the key to controlling the greatest power on earth.

He choose their destination coordinates himself, watched indifferently as the navigators plotted anchorpoints in heavily populated areas. To the man who'd once planned the destruction of an entire race, a few crushed underdwellers meant nothing. Besides, it was necessary. Compared to the fate of the skies, their lives were irrelevant.

She was sleeping now. Such power... so defenseless.

Munto was a fool.

Gunther snorted contemptously. To have that kind of power -- the salvation of the heavens, the rule of the same! -- within arm's reach and somehow fail to capture it... unthinkable. The boy was useless.

He dismissed the fact that it was Munto who'd mysteriously found her in the first place. Visions, dreams and premonitions were useless if one couldn't do what was necessary to profit from them. The Magical King was certainly powerful enough to force his will on a human child. Since he'd made the insane choice not to do so, the task of saving the heavens had passed into more capable hands.

Gunther had every intention of doing what he must. He would succeed where Munto had failed. She was coming this time. Compared to the fate of the heavens... what she wanted didn't matter at all. Reality was cold and hard, and Gunther placed his faith in it completely. He believed only what he saw.

The young heir was just like his parents -- worthless dreamers, both of them. Following visions instead of heeding reality, producing a forbidden child at the cost of their own lives and calling him a son of hope... the offspring of such addled parents must indeed be cursed. A sovereign who lead his army in battle instead of directing from headquarters, a queen who gave up life to give it, a powerful heir who cared for the insignificant -- they were all cut from the same cloth. Their folly had almost doomed the world.

The source of Akuto stirred in her sleep, unaware that the die was cast... that her fate sealed along with that of the heavens. Maybe a dreamer had discovered her, but it was going to take a rationalist to put her to use.

**-The End**

DISCLAIMER: Insert a quarter to hear the recording... This story not created, acknowledged or endorsed by Kyoto Animation or Yoshiji Kigami, to whom all relevant characters and trademarks belong. No infringement is intended and absolutely no profit was or ever will be made. _Voice of Reason_ itself is fan domain and may be freely recopied and archived. Reader reactions are appreciated, as always. For the size of the fandom, I'd say it's also highly responsive; thank you all for your feedback on my previous posts.

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